The Greatest Game
by WTFFanfic
Summary: Since he was old enough to ride a broom there has been only one dream on his mind, a dream to become the world's greatest seeker! For years he has waited patiently for his chance to make that dream come true but now the waiting is finally over. With his Hogwarts acceptance letter in one hand and his broom in the other its finally time to take flight and take the world by storm!
1. Chapter One: The Story Begins

**Welcome readers to my second ever HP story here on this site! I've been excited to write this series for a while now and am even more excited to see what everyone thinks of it! My other series, Fate's Four, is still my main series and will always take priority over this one but I have so much fun writing this one that you can expect frequent chapters and updates. I am in need of as much motivation as I can get to write two successful series so please please please leave a review down below if you enjoy the new series! I hope you enjoy it!**

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 **Chapter One:** **The Story Begins**

 _September 1st, 2040- The Leaky Cauldron, London_

"No, no, no - you are wrong Archie! Leon Hudson couldn't hold a torch to Harvey Hughes. Leon had three-hundred-and-twenty more points more in the eighty-eight circuit then Hudson did! Their levels were miles apart!" Mr. Gill argued, sploshing some of his drink onto the table as he shouted with over-exaggerated arm movements. Elliot quickly pulled his wash rag from his apron's pocket and cleaned up the spill before returning his arms to the back of the chair he was leaning on and continued to listen on intently to their argument.

"And what good did those extra points do for the Bangers eh? They still finished in the bottom six did'n they. Hudson and the Kestrels finished top o' the table that year!" Mr. Archie bellowed back.

"We wasn't arguing about where they finished in the table though was we? All I'm trying to tell ya Archie is that Hughes was a much better flyer. He practically invented the stop and fall turn! I saw Harvey do the move that helped Hudson win those two titles before anyone even knew who Leon Hudson was with me own eyes!" Mr. Gill growled again, this time maintaining a little better composure with his drink.

"You saw Harvey Hughes fly in person?!" he blurted out the question, amazed that Mr. Gill had seen a legend like Harvey Hughes in person.

"More than once I did. Me father used to take me out to the Banger's pitch before they built that new gawky stadium. The pitch over there used ta' be all be grass and ya could sit so close to the pitch that you almost nearly got hit with their brooms as they flew over ya!" Mr. Gill answered, beaming a smile at the memory.

"They let you sit that close - that's incredible?! Did you ever get to meet any of the players?" he blurted out another question, amazed at Mr. Gill's story.

"I never met any of the good ones no, I did get to meet a few of the reserves though; bunch o' nice fellas they were."

"That's so cool! I can't imagine getting to see someone like Harvey Hughes play that close!" he exclaimed.

"Oh come on boy, you've seen plenty of flyers that could handle a broom better than Harvey Hughes!" Mr Archie argued and from Mr. Gill's reaction it appeared he may have just started a new argument up.

"Elliot Neville Bridges where are you!" his mother shouted across the tables from behind the bar.

"Over here mother, I was just serving Mr. Archie and Mr. Gill, I promise!" he lied.

"Elliot, Mr. Gill and Mr. Archie are sitting at Olivia's table so I know you are lying. Now, I'm not gonna tell you again, go bring down your trunk and get ready to leave! We only have twenty minutes until our portkey leaves for King's Cross!"

"I'm going, I'm going, sorry mother! I just lost track of time!" he apologized and ran over to where is mother was.

"Just like you always seem to do," his mother replied with a girn. He rubbed the back of his head innocently and tried to keep the guilty smile trying to creep forth on his face down.

"I'll bring it down in a few minutes mom. I just have to finish packing first!"

"Finish packing? Elliot, please don't tell me that you haven't finished packing already!"

"Well. . ." he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head again and failing this time to contain his guilty smile this time.

"Elliot, every time you rub the back of your head like that I either know you are either lying or that you have forgotten to do something; which leads me to believe that not only have you not finished packing but that you have not even started packing!"

"I will though, and quick too! You'll see!" he assured her and turned to bolt up the stairs.

"Well I won't be the one missing out on my first year at Hogwarts if you don't! Ask your grandmother to help you!" his mother shouted up the stairs behind him.

"I will!" he called back.

He ran through hallway at the top of the stairs as quickly as he could, having to only slow down for one of the Leaky Cauldron's guests whose room door was blocking his path. At the other end of the hallway he bolted up the second flight of stairs, leading to their living quarters, taking two at a time, and ran to his grandparent's room. It took all the self-control in him to not just burst through the door, but knowing how much his Nana hated that he managed to maintain himself. He reached up and knocked softly on her door.

"Come in Elliot," nana called out from the other side of the door.

"How do you always know it's me?" he asked as he opened the door. His Nana was currently sitting next to the window in her favorite rocking chair reading a book.

"Cause you are the only person who makes enough noise bounding up the steps to scare a Hippogriff," she laughed. "Your grandfather used to do the same thing when he would come home from work. Just like with you, you could hear the excitement in each one of his steps as he bounced up those stairs."

"Sorry for being so loud Nana, I was just in a hurry," he apologized.

"Oh don't be sorry Elliot, you have always been in a hurry with everything since you were born. Now, I take it from all the shouting I heard downstairs from you and your mother you forgot to pack your trunk. Am I right?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"How did you?" he asked again, amazed again. She just laughed at him and slowly stood up from her rocking chair. "Well let's go to your room, I know a few packing charms that will help speed things along." He lead her towards his room, two doors down the hall, and opened the door. "Elliot, honestly the fact that you don't ever get lost in these piles of clothes and magazines you have scattered all over your floor is mind-staggering."

"It's not _that_ messy. I picked up all of the candy wrappers that mom was upset about at least," he retorted, grinning mischievously. Nana shook her head but gave him a soft chuckle.

"It scares me how much you are like your mother sometimes." She shook her head laughing. "Now, fetch your trunk and put it on your bed. You bring me the things you want to pack and I'll put it all in your trunk. Where are your books and supplies at?"

"Over there on my desk," he pointed towards the window and carefully stepped over the piles of clothes on the floor as he made his way over to the closet.

His school trunk was still in the corner of his closet and was currently sitting under a large pile of old posters that he hadn't yet got to putting up in his room. He tried to carefully pull the trunk out without making a bigger mess but failed miserably. All of the posters, along with about forty hangers fell loudly onto the floor of his closet and scattered across his bedroom's floor. He turned slowly towards his Nana who was just shaking her head again as she had her wand out waiting for him.

He pulled his trunk over to the bed and tossed it on top. He watched as Nana waved her wand at the chest a few times and proceeded to levitate all of his books and school supplies into his trunk. He made his way back over to his closet as she did that and randomly took as many shirts as he could carry in his right hand off the hangers, followed by as many pants and shorts he could carry with is left. Thanks to Nana, packing didn't take much time at all and within a few minutes he had almost everything ready to go.

"Elliot dear, you need to put on your school robes now too. And are you going to take it with you?" Nana asked him, pointing at his father's old _Thunderbolt VII_ that was sitting in its wrack above his bed.

"I don't really have any room for it, so I guess not. I'm already going to have to carry my _Comet 290_ with me on the Express since it won't fit in my trunk. I don't think I can manage carrying two brooms and my trunk," he replied, sad that he was going to have to leave it behind.

"I think we can manage to fit them both in your trunk," Nana replied with a smile and waved him over to her. He made his way over and followed her eyes down into his trunk and could see that the bottom of the trunk was much lower to where the actual bottom should have been.

"Is that the, what was it called, extendable something spell?" he asked, struggling to remember the exacting wording. His mother used the spell often when they went supply shopping for the Cauldron but he had never paid too much attention to it before.

"Right you are, I also added a featherweight charm to your trunk, so it should be easy for you to manage until you get to Hogwarts. Now, fetch your brooms so I can get them in here and you downstairs before your mother comes up here yelling and shouting."

He jumped up onto the bed and pulled his father's broom off its rack and carefully, like handling fine china, handed it to his grandmother. He watched her place it in into his chest, ensuring that it made it to the bottom in one piece, before he ran over to his dresser and plucked his _Comet 290_ from atop it.

"I think that's everything!" he asserted, putting his hands proudly on the side of his hips. "Thanks for helping me Nana."

"Of course, Elliot. It's not everyday a grandmother gets to spend some time with her grandson before he goes off to Hogwarts for the first time. I'm going to miss hearing you bounding up those stairs and shouting across the bar with your mother. It was always so quiet in the Cauldron when your mother left for Hogwarts when she was your age."

"And yet mother still always says I'm the only loud one in the family." Nana seemed to find that funny.

"Come here and give your Nana a hug and kiss before you leave," Nana ordered. He walked over to her and wrapped her in a hug and cringed a little as she planted a wet, loud smooch on his forehead.

"Awe c'mon Nana!" he groaned as he wiped his forehead, still smiling though.

"It's my job to embarrass you sometimes. Now, promise me before you leave that you will write to your mother and I while your gone; just because your grandfather is a professor at Hogwarts and you'll see him everyday isn't an excuse not to write," she ordered.

"I promise, I promise! When I'm not busy though!" he replied.

"Fair enough, now go on," she ordered him with a smile.

He pulled his trunk off his bed and being unprepared for how light it was stumbled backwards as he pulled harder than was necessary. After getting his grounding again he waved goodbye to Nana one last time and made his way downstairs. A few more customers had made their way into Leaky Cauldron while he had been upstairs it seemed and it took him a moment to spot his mother over the sea of heads.

"Mom, I'm packed!" he shouted across the tables. A few of the non-usuals in the restaurant turned to look at him as he did, but most had grown used to him and his mother shouting over the years.

"Okay, it's just about time to go!" she bellowed back.

"I'll be right back, I'm gonna go say by to the Weasleys and Mr. Underwood real quick!"

"Hurry Elliot, you only have ten minutes!" she shouted back as he ran through the back door out into Diagon Alley.

The Alley was less crowded than it normally was, most likely due to the large number of people sending their children off to Hogwarts today. There were still a few shoppers and families scattered about though, either walking down the street or window shopping. He ran down the empty sidewalk past the first three shops and quickly turned to enter the door of _Broomstix._

The shop seemed to be empty of customers and the only person inside was the store owner, Mr. Underwood, who was currently set up behind the counter, busy polishing the handle of a _Starsweeper XXXIL._

"I was wondering if you were going to come by before you left!" Mr. Underwood called out as he looked up and met eyes with him. "How long do you have before your portkey leaves?"

"Mother says just ten minutes so pretty soon," he answered and made his way over to the counter and looked the broom over.

The _Starsweeper_ broom series had always been one of his favorites. One of the best American seekers, Luca Flower, in the early 2000's had spent her entire contract money designing a broom specifically for chasers and her flashy style of play. The result was a broom that had nearly dominated the market for years and one that almost all professional chasers used nowadays, bar a few.

Luca Flower was always known as a flashy player; the type of chaser who seemed to refuse to ever score a normal looking goal. That style of play definitely reflected in the star dotted broom handle and the bright yellow bristles.

"Ten minutes huh, who else you have left to say goodbye to?" Mr. Underwood asked him.

"I was just gonna run by the Weasley's before I went back home. Did someone order this broom?"

"Yeah, some fellows from Cork's reserve team apparently had a big crash in practice and broke two of theirs last week so I got an order in for a few of em," Mr. Underwood answered, closing the bottle of polish he had open and wiping the broom a final time.

"Do you need any help? Did you already trim the bristles, I wanted to practice doing that a little more before I left," he asked . Underwood laughed at him and set the broom down on the counter.

"If I let you help me and you miss your portkey we both know that your mother would come down here and burn my shop down," Mr. Underwood laughed again. "Wait here, I got you something," he ordered as he stood up and made his way towards the back of the shop.

"You did? What is it?" he asked, practically bouncing up and down; unable to hold in his excitement.

"Don't get too excited it's nothing special. Just something small to keep you going while you're at Hogwarts," Elliot heard him shout from the back. Mr. Underwood made his way back after a moment carrying a small pouch and a magazine. He handed it to Elliot when he arrived back at the counter. "Well go on, open it up!"

Without hesitation Elliot pulled the two drawstrings and opened up the bag. Inside he could make out a few things. First was a small bottle of the _Broomstix_ secret high-finish wood polish; next to the bottle he could see a small pair of silver bristle trimmers as well as another bottle, this one containing some sticky grip.

"Mr. Underwood, thank you!" he cried out, his voice filled with excitement at the gifts he had received. He had always gone through all of his supplies of stuff like this like wildfire. He hadn't been able to save up enough money to buy more polish or a new pair of trimmers in time before he left for Hogwarts, Mr. Underwood must have known.

"Oh it's nothing. You just remember that when you become a famous seeker and start earning all that money," Mr. Underwood laughed. "I got you this magazine for the Express ride too. It's the latest addition of _Quidditch Quarterly_. I was just about to read my copy myself, apparently there's an interview with the coach of the Holyhead Harpies in this one."

"They did an interview with _the_ Ginny Weasley-Potter!" he shouted out and picked up the magazine. Sure enough on the cover was picture of the red-headed goddess. He practically drooled as he looked the cover over. Not only was Ginny Weasley-Potter the fastest coach to ever get five British-Irish League titles, but she is also probably the most famous dual position quidditch player of all time. No one in any league ever has ever managed to come close to her record of more than 3,000 points as a chaser and 117 catches as a seeker.

The magazine had the title: _Making Winning Look Easy_ in big flashing red letters that blended in with Ginny Weasley-Potter's hair as it moved in the wind. If there was ever a woman who could be considered perfect it was her he thought, practically drooling.

"I wonder if I can convince my Grandfather to get her to sign the cover of this. I know they still keep in touch a lot and he did help me get her autograph on a jersey for my birthday two years ago," he thought outloud.

"No harm in asking. Now go on and get out of here before we have to face your mother's wrath. And make sure you write me at least once and let me know how the quidditch teams are looking this year. I haven't been to a Hogwart's game in a few years but I've been hearing some good things recently from some customers."

"I will! You make sure you let me know if you hear any juicy news or get any new shipments in," he replied as he took his pouch of broom servicing goods off the counter and headed for the door.

"I will, good luck out there Elliot!"

"Thank you! Bye Mr. Underwood."

As soon as his feet touched the stoney street outside the shop he was in a full sprint down the Alley again. _Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes_ was on the first corner of Diagon Alley and stood above every other building on Diagon Alley, besides Gringotts. The shop was always one of the more crowded ones and even on a monday morning he could still make out a few customers through the large purple windows. He climbed up the steep staircase and made his way into the store.

"Welcome to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes where you always get the last laugh! Oh Elliot! We thought you might have already left." Roxanne Weasley shouted from behind the store's checkout counter. "George, Elliott is here!"

"Elliot my boy, we were worried you went on to Hogwarts without saying goodbye!" George bellowed as he made his way down the stairs towards the front of the shop.

"I told you I would come say goodbye before I left didn't I?" he replied.

"Was that before or after you told us that you would come help us restock the shelves last weekend?" Roxanne asked him with a grin and his cheeks flushed as he only now remembered that he had in fact told them that.

"Oops," he mumbled.

"Oops indeed," she laughed at him.

"So did you guys come up with the bet idea yet? I only have a few minutes before I leave so I kind of need to know," he asked them and made his way over to the counter.

"Ah yes we did," George answered with a large smile.

"Well?" he asked, curious to know. His bets with the two of them always led to something enjoyable.

"Since you're going to Hogwarts we decided it would only be appropriate to bet on the Sorting Ceremony," George started to explain.

"Dad over there says you are going to end up a Gryffindor," Roxanne stated.

"His Grandfather was the most Gryffindor a person could get! It's in your blood Elliot!" George interjected.

"His mother wasn't a Gryffindor and she had Longbottom blood in her too! I on the other hand think you're going to be a Slytherin, like your parents were," Roxanne Argued.

"Eww!" George hissed like a snake.

"Why do you think Slytherin?" he asked her.

"Well you are the most ambitious little boy I have ever met in my life first off and Slytherin's are known to be the most ambitious of the bunch. Secondly you've been telling us that you are going to be the world's greatest seeker since you could ride a broom and everyone knows the best seekers always come from Slytherin or Gryffindor," Roxanne explained.

"Don't listen to her Elliot. Roxanne was a Ravenclaw so what does she know!" George interjected.

"Me being a Ravenclaw is precisely why I would know!" Roxanne shouted back.

"So what happens if you are right or wrong?" he asked them, anxious to get to the good part.

"If I'm right you have to wear a Chudley Cannons jersey everytime you help out here at the shop," Roxanne started.

"And if I'm right you have to deliver me food from your Mother's kitchen this summer whenever I place an order!" George added.

"As long as you don't order soups! Last time I did that for you I spilt it all over my favorite Lancashire shirt!" he replied.

"Oh there will be plenty of soup ordered," George replied, rubbing his hands together with a maniacal smile.

"Alright, I accept the terms! If I end up in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw then Roxanne you have wear a Lancashire jersey on the days I help out in the shop and George you have to take me to London's practice grounds two different times and help me with my flying!" he proposed his side of the bet.

"That sounds fair enough," Roxanne replied with a confident grin.

"I think that we can accept your terms!" George agreed with a weird accent and shook his hand. "Now, Eliot, as much as I would like to continue chatting away with you, I believe that is your mother walking down the street with a fervor towards here. I'm still recovering from the last time she yelled at me for giving you those jumping snakes so it's probably best you run along now." Elliot turned to the window and sure enough could see his mother walking with a mission down the Alley.

"Uh oh," he gulped and stepped away from the shop's counter. "I'll write you and let you know what house I end up in. I'll miss you guys!" said Elliot, turning to leave the shop.

"We will miss you too Elliot," Roxanne called back.

"We'll send you a box of goodies sometime this year as long as you promise to put them to good use!" George added.

"I will, bye!"

He opened the door to the shop and made his way back out into the Alley. His mother's eyes immediately found him and he mentally prepared himself for a verbal beatdown.

"Did you get to say all of your goodbyes?" she asked him, surprisingly in a calm tone.

"Yeah, I did," he smiled.

"Good, well let's get back home. Our Portkey is just about to leave," his mother said and pulled him into her side, wrapping her arms around him. "I can't believe my little boy is about to go off to Hogwarts. It feels like just yesterday when I was putting the Sorting Hat on my head," his mother reminisced as they walked back up the Alley towards home.

"Were you nervous at all? About the Sorting I mean?"

"Why do you ask? Are you suddenly feeling nervous about it? What happened to 'the great Elliot Bridges doesn't get nervous'? Did I say it right?" His mother quipped.

"The great Elliot Bridges doesn't get nervous I was just curious is all! Roxanne just said something I hadn't really thought about before."

"What did she tell you this time?" his mother asked, her tone full of accusations. Even though his mother and Roxanne were close friends and had even been schoolmates growing up his mother had never quite grown to approve of Roxanne's constant pranks and joking.

"Nothing bad mom relax! She just said that everyone knows that all the best seekers come from Gryffindor or Slytherin and it got me thinking about it. I mean it's kinda true, at least for the best British seekers. Ginny Weasley-Potter, Lenox Campell, Glynnis Griffiths and Billy Stevens are some of the most famous British seekers and they were all in either Gryffindor or Slytherin; even dad was a Slytherin.

"What if I end up in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff? What if I do and it's really true that you have to be in Slytherin or Gryffindor to be a great seeker? I was always so anxious to get to Hogwarts so I could try out for a real quidditch team and just start playing; I never actually thought about which house I would actually be playing for and what that meant." His mother stopped walking and turned to him, bending her knees so that she was eye level with him.

"Elliot, the person makes the house, the house doesn't make the person. It doesn't matter what house you are sorted into, whatever house you end up in you will have the potential to become great Elliot," his mother assured him, her voice calm and confident; her eyes never leaving his.

"How do you know that though?" he asked, not fully assured by her words.

"Because you are my son." She leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead and stood back up. She took his hand in hers and slowly pulled him alongside her down the rest of the Alley.

"Both of my parents were Gryffindors and as you know grandfather was about as famous of a Gryffindor as you can be. When they found out I had been sorted into Slytherin, Gryffindor's biggest rival, you know what they both said to me?" she asked him as they arrived outside the Cauldron's front door.

"What?"

"They said they were so proud of me - and you know what I will tell you when you tell me where you've been sorted?" she asked him again.

"What?"

"That I am so very proud of you," she gave him another smile and let go of his hand. "Now, grab your trunk. Our portkey should be ready any second now," she ordered and he ran over to the bottom of the stairs and grabbed his trunk.

"Bye everyone!" he shouted out across the dining area and received a number of waves and goodbye shouts from the Cauldron's usual customers. "And mom."

"Yes, Elliot?"

"Thanks for being such a great mother. I love you, and I hope I really do make you proud some day."

"I love you too Elliot and don't worry - you already have."

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	2. Chapter Two: Sorting Things Out

**Chapter Two: Sorting Things Out**

"Elliot Bridges!" Professor Greengrass called out his name. Well that was quick. Just two names into the Sorting Ceremony and already his name was already being called out.

He pushed his way through the crowd of first years to the front of the group and made his way up the three steps leading to the stool where the Sorting Hat sat. The Great Hall was silent and each of his footsteps echoed around the Hall as everyone waited anxiously for him to be sorted. The professor picked up the Sorting Hat as he made to sit down and placed it atop his head.

The feeling of the Sorting Hat moving on his head was odd but he didn't really pay it much attention, how could he when every eye of the castle were pinned on him at the moment. A grin crept over his face at the attention, loving every second of it. This was a feeling he could get used to, all eyes on him. Unfortunately, though, he didn't have much time to get used to it as the Hat screamed out " _Hufflepuff"_ into the hall.

The second table from the left of the Hall burst into applause and everyone sat round it rose to their feet. The professor took the Hat from his head and with a smile still beaming on his face he made his way over to his new housemates. One hand after another he made his way down the row of cheering Hufflepuffs to deep in elation to pay any attention to each of their names.

He was a Hufflepuff, the first in his family in a long time as far as he could remember. Besides his parents, who both were Slytherins, most of his family going up the tree had been Gryffindors. Thinking of his family, as he shook another hand he turned his head up to the teacher's table where his grandfather was stood clapping for him, a large smile on his face. Elliot smiled back and found a seat near the middle of the table as the cheers died down and the next name was called.

 _A Hufflepuff huh. Guess I will be the first great seeker to ever come from the house._ He thought to himself. Getting sorted into Hufflepuff also meant that he had won his bet with Roxanne and George. He looked forward to Roxanne's annoyed face in a Lancashire jersey and all that he would learn from George, who had been a great beater back in his time at Hogwarts, in the two practice lessons.

"Welcome mate," an older looking boy with brown hair and freckles whispered to him across the table as the applause died down.

"Thanks," he replied.

"Name's Sean Stone, welcome to Hufflepuff," the boy named Sean added with a smile as the Sorting Hat shouted " _Ravenclaw_ " into the Great Hall.

As the Sorting Ceremony continued Elliot's anxiety and nerves died down a little, however, his excitement did not. He had been dreaming of this day for so long now, dreaming of the day he would finally become an official Hogwarts student. It was hard to believe it was finally here and all of this still felt a little surreal.

Now that he was here though, now that he had been sorted into a house, he finally had the opportunity to go to real quidditch tryouts and potentially play for a real quidditch team. He was so close to achieving one of his dreams he could practically taste it!

Playing professional quidditch had been one of his dreams ever since the first time he saw his father play. His father had signed a professional contract with the Lancashire Quidditch Club just two days after he had graduated from Hogwarts. Elliot had been too young to go to any games the first two seasons, but in his father's third season Elliot's entire world had been changed, all from just one game and one catch of the beautiful golden snitch.

The first ever live quidditch game Elliot had ever seen was Lancashire versus the Ballycastle Bats, the very first game of his father's third season of professional quidditch. Coming into that season Lancashire had been ranked as the worst team in the British and Irish Quidditch League and had been projected to only win four games the entire season; Ballycastle Bats on the other hand were projected to win their Second straight league title.

From the second Elliot saw his father's feet leave the ground he had fallen in love with the game of quidditch. His father defied all expectations and all projections in that game. He flew brilliantly, shining like a red rose in a sea of blue flowers. Elliot had watched on in awe as his father elegantly caught the snitch, destroying all the doubters' expectations and igniting hope in the fans of a club that had never won the league title.

After that game there was no keeping Elliot away from the quidditch pitch. Game after game he was the first one out in the stands for every Lancashire home game and game after game he watched his father, like a god among men, catch the golden snitch against all odds.

That season his father took Lancashire all the way to the top and was the reason that the quidditch club earned its first ever league title. It was during the final game of the season when his father's brilliance had truly been put on display for the world. Even with a broken hand and playing against two of the best beaters in the league his father had somehow managed to catch the snitch right before the Wigtown Wanderer's seeker did.

It was at that moment, as the confetti and fireworks filled the sky and the Lancashire team celebrated their victory out on the pitch, that Elliot new what he wanted to do with his life. Ever since that moment his dreams were set in stone. One day he would play professional quidditch - and one day he would become the greatest seeker to ever play the game. Coming to Hogwarts, getting sorted into a house, and making the house team was the first step in achieving that dream.

"Congratulations to all of our new first years. The entire Hogwarts teaching staff and myself wish you all the best of luck in your first year. Now, I'm sure you all are hungry so without further adew, tuck in," Headmaster McGonagall announced to the Hall and at once trays upon trays of food appeared in front of the students on the table.

Elliot's eyes went wide at the huge selection of food in front of him to choose from. How anyone here managed to not be overweight was incredible. He piled his plate high with a little food from each tray and dug in.

"So Professor Greengrass looks just as happy as ever," the student next to Elliot said, starting up a conversation as everyone seemed to have filled their plates. Elliot followed the student's eyes up to the teacher's table were the professor who had led their sorting was eating with an almost ice-like gaze on her face. Elliot's eyes wandered over the rest of the teachers, hoping they all didn't look as terrifying as she did.

"Guess that means potions is going to be tough again this year. I swear she has it out for Hufflepuffs," another student replied.

"Oh Alex, you know she doesn't have it out for Hufflepuffs. She's married to our head of house for peeve's sake!" a girl pointed out from somewhere near him as Elliot did a spit-take with the juice he was drinking.

"What the hell!" the first year girl next to him screamed as a little bit of juice landed on her robes. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Is that _the_ Katie Bell up there?" he asked his housemates sitting around him, his voice almost in a panic.

"Yeah? So?" one of the girl's sitting next to him answered.

"So? - So?" he barely stammered out in disbelief. "Why is _the_ Katie Bell sitting up there with the professors?"

"She is the flying instructor and quidditch coach here at Hogwarts," the boy named Sean replied.

" _Katie Bell_ is the flying instructor and quidditch coach at Hogwarts?" he bellowed, not really sure if what he was hearing was true.

"Yeah?" the girl next to him answered, her answer sounding more like a question. "Why is that such a big deal?"

"Why is it such a big deal?" he asked in disbelief again. "Katie Bell was one of the best Chasers in the world during her career. When she played for the Falmouth Falcons she led the league in points scored for seven straight years! If she hadn't been sidelined with injuries so much she would have for sure beat Basil Horton's record at the club!" he blurted.

"I didn't even know Professor Bell played professional quidditch," the girl next to him confessed.

"What!" he roared, bewildered that someone could not have known that their professor was someone as brilliant and famous as Katie Bell was. The girl jumped a little as he shouted.

"Just ignore Mia, she knows about as much of quidditch as a muggle would," Sean interjected. "I take it that you are a fan of quidditch then Elliot?"

"I think saying I'm a fan is an understatement," he laughed.

"Who do you support?" Sean asked him.

"I support Lancashire, do you like quidditch too?" he asked Sean, hopeful that some of his new housemates would be as big of quidditch buffs as he was. Mia laughed, apparently finding his question funny.

"Sean eats, breathes, and sleeps quidditch. Rumor has it that he even sleeps with his broom in his bed!" the girl named Mia interjected, still laughing.

"You do that too?" Elliot asked Sean in excitement.

"What? No? Wait - you sleep with your broom in your bed?" Sean asked him.

"Yeah I do," he replied, taking a bite of a chicken leg.

"Why?" Sean asked him.

"My dad told me one time that professional muggle athletes used to take the ball of whatever sport they played with them everywhere they went. They showered with it, slept with it, and ate with it," he started to explain.

"Why on earth would they do that? That's crazy!" Mia exclaimed.

"They do it to get better. If you carry around a ball all day your body gets used to it and it becomes almost like another one of your limbs. The same applies for a broom, the more you ride it, polish it, and hold it the more you get used to it. The best professional players have all said in interviews, books, and biographies that riding a broom was almost easier to them than walking was," he finished explaining.

"It makes sense I guess, still seems a little over the top to me though," Mia replied.

"Maybe it is," he admitted, sleeping with a broom in your bed did get a little uncomfy at times. "So Sean you never answered me, who do you support?"

"Chudley Cannons of course. I'm sane after all. You must be crazy to be a Lancashire fan Elliot!"

"Sean you can't go calling one of our new first years crazy!" another girl next to Sean interrupted. "It was Elliot right? My name is Leah Ross, glad to have you in Hufflepuff."

"Thanks Leah, and nice to meet you," he replied with a smile which she returned.

"Now, back to you Sean. Everyone in Europe knows that the Chudley Cannons are overrated and haven't been a real contender in over twenty years. The only reason they are even a team worth talking about year after year is because of all the money people throw at them. They spend more money on players than any other club and still barely manage to make the playoffs." Elliot listened to Leah in amazement.

"You know your Quidditch Leah, are you a fan too?" he asked before Sean got his argument out.

"Of course I am a quidditch fan! You are looking at Hufflepuff's best chaser right here!" Leah proclaimed as she pointed at herself.

"You are a chaser for Hufflepuff? That's amazing!" he replied, his awe of the girl only rising.

"You think so? Wish my parents thought so too, they keep telling me it is only hurting my grades," Leah replied, sprouting a pout.

"I think it is incredible! Who else here is on the team?"

"Well Sean here has been our keeper for the past four years and the quiet girl next to him on the other side is Anna Andrews, she was back up keeper last season but might give Sean a run for his money this year," Leah pointed at the girl next to Sean. The girl named Anna waved at Elliot who returned it with a smile as Leah continued.

"The kid with long brown hair over there is Dylan Dunlap, he has been a solid beater for Hufflepuff since his second year and next to him is Zoe Steele. Zoe is only in her third year this year and has been starting for us ever since her first year." Elliot again followed were Leah was looking and looked at the two players. Dylan certainly looked like a beater; he was big and even with robes on looked fit and like someone who could swing a bat. Zoe on the other hand had the frame of a chaser and while she certainly looked to be in good shape did not look like your typical beater. Elliot knew first hand though that looks could be deceiving, especially in quidditch.

"Who was Hufflepuff's seeker last year?" he asked Leah.

"That would be the team captain, Skyla Drake. She is at the middle of the table, the girl with a silver streak in her hair. She is also Head Girl too." Elliot looked down the table until he found her. Skyla looked, well, terrifying, to say the least. Even from where he was sitting he could feel a certain auror coming off the girl; an auror of power and passion. She had a look of pure confidence, a trait all truly good seekers needed to have.

"Is she good?" he asked, already assuming based on appearances alone that the answer was yes.

"I think good is an understatement. Skyla is a seventh year and has been a seeker since her first year and Hufflepuff's captain since her third. She won't confirm the rumors but word even has it that the Holyhead Harpies want her to come to practices with them when she graduates," Sean answered him this time.

"I heard it was the Banchory Bangers not the Harpies," Leah argued.

"Well whoever it is, odds are in a year we will probably be seeing Skyla playing pro somewhere," Sean replied.

"Wow!" Elliot exclaimed, looking at the girl again. It was amazing to think that he was in the same house as a potential professional player. "With a seeker that good Hufflepuff must have the best house team at Hogwarts!"

"Well. . ." Leah stammered, scratching her head.

"What?" Elliot asked her.

"Hufflepuff has put out a good team over the past few years, but. . ." Leah started.

"But we still haven't come close to winning the quidditch cup in ages," Sean finished Leah's sentence.

"What? How though! You must have come close with someone as good as Skyla on the team!" he argued in disbelief.

"Well Skyla is good but she is only one person. Other houses have put out more consistent teams. Slytherin for example has dominated over the past few years and their seeker Jaxen Flint and the rest of Slytherin are just better than us. We just can't seem to score more points than them in a season," Leah answered.

"Is Slytherin that good?" he asked Leah and Sean.

"Unfortunately, yeah. Skyla can give Jaxen a run for his money most days and has even caught the snitch twice faster than him, but each year it seems like Slytherin gets another good chaser and that's where they kill everyone. Two years ago they lost all three of their starting seekers and we thought we would have a chance for the cup after that but out of nowhere they got two new great young chasers that might be even better than the old ones," Sean explained and the first year girl next to Elliot, who had spat some of his drink on 'hmpf'd' in response, sounding annoyed at Sean's words.

"Well Slytherin's reign as being the best quidditch team is going to come to an end this year," Elliot proclaimed confidently with a smug grin.

"It is? Why do you say that?" Leah asked him.

"Because of me!" he replied quickly.

"Huh? I don't get it," Leah replied.

"Because I am going to tryout for Hufflepuff's team. When I make the team Slytherin, Ravenclaw, and even Gryffindor won't stand a chance against Hufflepuff!" he proclaimed to the table. They all looked at him with wide eyes like he was crazy.

" _When_ you make the team? Someone is a little confident," Leah replied with a grin.

"Of course I'm confident! I know I'm good and I know I can make the team!"

"Well, making the team as a first year is rare, possible, but rare. Zoe and Skyla are the only two Hufflepuffs to make the team in their first year in over fifteen years. What position do you even play?" Sean asked him.

"Seeker," he replied quickly.

"Well then, I'm sorry to say that you will probably have to wait a year to try out then," said Leah.

"What? Why?" he questioned, worried that his dream was already crashing down.

"Because there is no way you will beat out Skyla for the position. Plus Jayson Davis was a pretty good backup seeker last year, even beating him out would be a tough task for a new first year," Leah admitted.

"Well I don't doubt that Skyla and this Jayson guy are good but I know I can do it! You both just wait and see!" he declared confidently.

"When are team tryouts by the way?" the girl that he had spilled a little of his drink on next to him asked Sean and Leah.

"I'm sorry for being rude, I don't think we've even got your name yet," Leah said to the girl next to him.

"I'm Dakota Taylor," the dark brown-haired first year girl answered Leah with a bright smile.

"Well Dakota, congratulations on making it into Hufflepuff and sorry we didn't introduce ourselves earlier. We just got caught up in all this quidditch talk," Leah apologized.

"It's okay, I was actually happy to learn that Hufflepuff has a lot of quidditch fans," Dakota replied.

"Are you a big quidditch fan too?" Elliot quickly turned to ask Dakota who apparently was a new first year like him.

"I enjoy it yes," Dakota replied.

"Do you play at all? Are you going to try out too?" Elliot fired off the questions, curious to know if he was the only first year looking to tryout or not.

"I grew up playing with my family a lot yes, and I was planning on trying out, although I don't know if I'm good enough to make the team yet," Dakota answered, looking down unsure of herself towards her fork.

"What position do you play? You look like a chaser," Elliot asked as he looked Dakota over. She certainly had the body of a chaser; a slim build with long legs that made turning in the air easier. Her dark brown hair, although clean and well kept had traces of the wind in it. Even Dakota's hands looked like the hands of a quidditch player. Though her tan skin looked soft he could see the soft scars that quaffle blisters left on players all over her palms.

"I normally play chaser," Dakota replied, confirming his guess.

"Hold on a second. You said your last name was Taylor right?" said Leah.

"Yeah I did," Dakota replied.

"Are you by any chance sisters with Nora Taylor?" Leah asked a now annoyed looking Dakota.

"Yes - Nora is my sister," Dakota answered bluntly, not sounding too happy about being sisters with this Nora person.

"Who is Nora Taylor?" Elliot asked the two girls.

"Remember how I told you Slytherin had two young chasers show up out of nowhere recently. Nora Taylor is one of them and the best of the bunch too if you ask me," Leah explained.

"If you play chaser half as good as your sister does I will be impressed that's for sure," Sean added.

"Ugh all this quidditch talk is making me so anxious!" he groaned, causing a few heads on the table to turn his way.

"Well to answer your question Dakota and ease your anxiety Elliot quidditch tryouts are normally on the first weekend of school. We won't know what day or time though until near the end of this week but just check out the noticeboard in the common room everyday and it will be posted there," Leah informed them.

"We have to wait an entire week! Ugh!" he groaned again. This week was going to be the longest of his life.

"It's only a week. We have to give the first years time to adjust to the school and you have to have your first flying instructions before you are even allowed to fly on the grounds," Sean explained.

"Wait - I can't fly on the grounds yet? I was going to go out for a night cap tonight though!" he bellowed.

"Weren't you listening to the Headmaster's speech at all? She said all of this only a few minutes ago," Dakota pointed out.

"Uhhh, well. . ." he scratched his head as he mumbled.

The rest of the opening feast was filled with conversations of quidditch and Hogwarts. Elliot just sat silently and listened to Leah, Sean, Mia, and Anna talk about all of the professors and which classes were harder than others for while before striking up a rather interesting conversation with Dakota on her favorite brooms.

He had only spent a small amount of time with his fellow housemates but already Elliot was happy to have been sorted into Hufflepuff. So far everyone here seemed to be kind and fun to be around. By the end of the feast his stomach was bulging and he felt like he would be full for days. He found it difficult to stand up as they were all dismissed and told to go to their common rooms.

"Hey Sean," he called out as the Hufflepuffs all stood up and made way for the door of the Great Hall.

"What's up?" Sean called back over his shoulder.

"Where is the trophy room?" he asked, remembering something he had been wanting to do as soon as he arrived at Hogwarts.

"Just two doors down the hall right when we leave the Great Hall, next to the picture of the four zebras. I can show it to you tomorrow if you want," Sean replied.

"Yeah, sure." Elliot said back, dipping out of the stream of students towards the hallway Sean had mentioned.

"What do you think you are doing?" someone whispered behind him. Elliot turned to see Dakota.

"I wanna go see the trophy room," he whispered back, hoping that the other students wouldn't notice him out of the line.

"Are you trying to get expelled already? Headmaster McGonagall told us to follow our prefects to the common room!"

"I won't get expelled, I'm going now; see ya later Kota!" he whispered with a smile and turned back down the hallway.

"Don't call me Kota! My name is Dakota! Oh screw it, wait!" he heard Dakota whisper again behind him and turned to see her briskly following after him. Not wanting to get caught he quickly opened the door Sean had told him led to the trophy room and entered, leaving the door cracked for Dakota to enter.

"I swear if I get in trouble because of you," Dakota mumbled as she entered and closed the door behind them.

"I didn't ask you to come with me Kota," he replied and made his way over to the rows of trophy cases.

"Well, that's true - but - why do you even want to come here?" Dakota asked as she followed him around the room, looking over his shoulder each time he slowed down.

"I wanted to see something," he replied.

"What did you want to see so bad?" Dakota asked.

"This," Elliot whispered as he found what he had been looking for. His eyes immediately got watery and he had to take a moment to control himself from crying and embarrassing himself in front of Dakota.

In the trophy case was a large gold trophy, the Hogwarts Quidditch Cup. Next to the trophy was a large plaque with a picture underneath. The picture was of the 2027 Slytherin Hogwarts champion quidditch team. Most of the faces Elliot didn't recognize but the face in the middle he did.

Stood at the center with his _Thunderbolt_ _VII_ resting against his shoulder and the golden snitch in his hand was Elliot's father. Elliot tried to keep the tears back but failed, a few warm drops cascaded down his cheeks as he looked the photo over. His father was looking at the golden snitch in his palms with a bright smile on his face. Elliot knew how important that snitch had been to his father and his mother.

He had heard the story a number of times and new it was only a few minutes after this photo was taken that Elliot's father had transfigured the snitch into a golden ring and proposed to his mother. This photo showed his father on the happiest day of his life, with a smile that Elliot could barely remember.

"Why did you want to see the 2027 Slytherin Quidditch Cup trophy?" Dakota asked, breaking his train of thought. "Elliot - are you okay? Why are you crying?" Dakota sounded worry as she seemed to have noticed the few tears leaving his eyes.

"I'm fine, it's nothing," he insisted, his eyes stuck on his father's smile.

"You may be fine tonight Mr. Bridges but if I find you sneaking around my castle like this again I can't promise you the same," a voice assured from somewhere behind Elliot and Dakota. Elliot turned quickly in a panic to see the Headmaster standing behind them. He was sure his skin must have gone ghost white from fright.

"Head - master McGonagall," he stammered. "Wait, how did you know my name?"

"It is the job of a Headmaster to know all of their students. Plus as much as your grandfather talks about you I don't think any professor here will have trouble remembering your name," the Headmaster answered with a smile. "I see you found your father's trophy."

"I'm sorry for leaving the group, I've just wanted to see this for a long time," he replied, looking down at his feet. The Headmaster walked up to the trophy case and looked at the picture.

"Your father earned his reputation as a truly great seeker that season. I had to nearly hex a few professional scouts for trying to sneak into the castle to recruit him during his final year here. He flew so well that year that students in other houses were even asking for his autograph, knowing that he was certainly going pro.

"And if I remember correctly I caught him a number of times sneaking around the castle to take night rides on his broom. Your grandfather has told me that you take after your father quite a bit, I hope that you have inherited more of your mother's ruling following traits though."

"Uhh - well my Nana thinks I'm just like my mother was," he replied, his tears drying as a smile slowly crept on his face.

"Well your mother was a great witch and a great student during her tenure at Hogwarts so I will be expecting much of the same from you Mr. Bridges. Now, I must insist that you and Miss Taylor follow me to the Hufflepuff common room, curfew is almost upon us."

The Headmaster walked them through the castle to a large stack of barrels. She knocked on one of the larger ones and they waited until a girl Elliot recognized as Skyla Drake opened up the barrel, revealing a large room inside.

"Headmaster, what can Hufflepuff do for you?" Skyla asked as she stepped out from the barrell.

"I held to of your new housemates behind the group to discuss something. They will be needing a tour of the common room and directing to their dorms I'm sure," Headmaster McGonagall replied and shot Elliot and Dakota a wink as she, much to their surprise, covered for them.

"Of course Headmaster, you two can come on in," Skyla replied and motioned them inside with her hands.

"Could I have a quick word with you first Miss Drake."

"Of course Headmaster. If you both would just wait inside I'll be right there," Skyla told them and they both walked inside the barrell into the Hufflepuff common room.

The common room was huge to say the least. The room was filled to the brim with large brown leather couches that looked large enough to sit ten people. Huge wooden tables were scattered about the common room and there seemed to be enough chairs to sit the entire school in here. Lit fireplaces lined the sides of the room and huge barrels trimmed with yellow and black were mounted on the walls. The room somewhat reminded him of his home at the Leaky Cauldron and he knew immediately he would enjoy it here.

"Sorry for making you both wait," Skyla's voice emerged behind them as she entered the barrell. "The Headmaster told me your names were Dakota and Elliot, is that correct?" They both nodded. To be honest Elliot was a little intimidated by Skyla, even if she did seem nice.

"Well this is the Hufflepuff common room. To enter you just need to knock three times and say the password. This month the password is _Sprout_. It changes every month so make sure you pay attention or you might end up locked out all night. The common room is always open to students. So if you need to pull a late night study session or an early morning test prep you are always welcome in here. Just make sure you clean up after yourself.

"The two doors on the sides of the room lead to the dorms. The boy's dorms are on the right and the girls are on the left. You both will be sharing dorms with the other first years. Dakota I can show you to your room, Elliot just go into the door and look for the door with a big one on it. You'll find your stuff already there okay," Skyla finished explaining and Elliot started off.

"Okay, thanks for your help," he replied.

"No problem. Oh and your class schedule should be with your stuff too. I recommend you wake up extra early the first week of classes, the professors don't go easy on people who are late," Skyla added.

Elliot made his way over to the door on the right side of the common room and went inside. The first year dorm was all the way down on the end and as he opened it he could see most of the other first year boys were already unpacking and getting settled into their beds.

He found his things and decided he would wait to unpack it all until later. He was already pretty beat and all of the food he had consumed during dinner had made him exhausted. He plopped down onto the bed as a satisfying yawn escaped him. He would have to write to everyone tomorrow and let them know he had been sorted into Hufflepuff. He would have to do a lot of things tomorrow.

It sounded like making the Hufflepuff quidditch team would be no joke. If Skyla and Jayson were really as good seekers as Leah and Sean said they were he would need more practice. Sean had been right when he said that making the team as a first year was difficult. Less than fifty students had managed to make a house team in the entirety of Hogwart's lifespan. Even Elliot's father hadn't made the team until his second year.

He rolled over in his bed and opened his trunk up and pulled his _Comet 290_ out and laid it on the bed beside him. He would have to wait until the first flying instructions class before he would be allowed to start flying, which meant at least the first few days of this week he would be stuck on the ground; which sucked. Regardless, he would find a way to get some practice in this week, even if he was stuck on the ground.

Time was short and he would need all the help he could get. He reached up and drew the curtains around his bed. Just one week to practice, just one week until he could start making his dreams come true.

* * *

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	3. Chapter Three: Lift Off

**Chapter Three**

The Hufflepuff common room was empty and quiet. The licking of the red and orange flames of the fire in the many fireplaces the only real audible sound to be heard. Elliot had discovered quickly that Hufflepuff's reputation of being the hardest workers in the school was no joke and that work ethic was the reason he found himself in the common room alone so early in the morning.

Since he was six Elliot had always been an early riser. His mother opened up the Cauldron around eight every morning and since Elliot helped out with the kitchen during the day if he wanted any free time of his own it had to be before opening hours. Because of this Elliot had grown use to waking up between five or six every morning.

Back in Diagon Alley his usual routine was to take an early morning jog around the shopping center before returning to the basement of the Leaky Cauldron, where the basic muggle weight lifting station his mother had bought him was. For around an hour, almost every morning, Elliot would either lift weights or try out some new quidditch training technique Mr. Underwood had heard about or that Elliot had read in a magazine.

He had planned to keep the same routine going at Hogwarts but after just the first two days at school he had quickly changed his plan. The first morning Elliot had woken up at six, thinking that would be early enough to have some peace and quiet around the castle for a good morning jog. Apparently, though, he was not the only early riser in the castle. He counted at least thirty other students jogging around the grounds of the castle and had even seen at least two people flying around on the distant quidditch pitch.

The Hufflepuff common room had been packed as well, full of students sitting at the many tables working on getting ahead in their classes or studies. Elliot had always been used to being alone, especially in the morning during his workouts. He had never seen so many other people around his age putting in so much extra effort. Seeing so many people working so hard and pushing themselves though had quickly increased his motivation tenfold.

It was made very clear to him early on that he was not the only one pushing himself here at Hogwarts. Even if a majority of the other students he saw were pushing themselves for their classes or just their own personal health he was sure that at least a handful of the students he saw would be potential opponents out on the quidditch pitch. If he wanted to be the best seeker ever or even make the Hufflepuff team for that matter he would have to work even harder than everyone else. Which is exactly why this morning he was out in the common room at four in the morning; as well as the reason he was struggling to keep his constant yawns at bay.

He crept across the common room to the front door and pushed the barrel door open, stepping out into the halls of Hogwarts. The rest of the castle seemed to be still asleep. The halls were quiet and even his soft footsteps were echoing loudly in the void halls. Thankfully the walk to the front gate of the castle was a short one from the Hufflepuff common room and within minutes he was out on the grounds of the school.

The sky was still a deep shade of purple. Only the smallest traces of sunlight had begun to appear out on the horizon and Elliot could even still make out a number of stars dotted in the early-morning sky above him. The grass on the grounds was damp, with a layer of fresh dew resting on the peak of every blade of grass.

Half of the grounds were covered in a deep-grey fog that rolled off the shores of the great lake towards the forbidden forest. The air was still a bit chilly but Elliot didn't mind it, mornings here were still so much prettier and better than any morning back in Diagon Alley.

He made off towards the edge of the forbidden forest to start off with some stretches before his jog. His current running path took him around the castle, along the edge of the forest until it met the great lake; a trail that he guessed was roughly five miles or so. After getting in a good ten minutes of stretching Elliot set off on the trail.

Waking up earlier, while it certainly sucked, gave him a lot more time to train and practice for quidditch tryouts, which were steadily approaching. Today he was stuck on the ground, only able to do simple workouts and exercises. Hopefully, starting tomorrow, he would be able to add some flying and broom workouts into his morning routine.

Today Hufflepuff was receiving its first flying instructions course with _the_ Katie Bell. There were a number of rumors that some of the older students had spread about the course that had made Elliot extremely anxious for the lesson today. Some had said that if you flew well enough today you would get permission to fly on the grounds, other said if you did not fly well enough you wouldn't be allowed to even try out for your house's team. Elliot still wasn't sure which ones were exactly true or not, but regardless of that he was still beyond anxious to get back on a broom.

Jogging around the grounds of Hogwarts was much easier than running around Diagon Alley. Not only did the soft grass do wonders on his ankles in comparison to the stone sidewalks of the alley, but the views the trail provided often made you lose track of the fact that you were even running. More than three different times Elliot found himself lost in daze and coming out of it a half-mile or further later.

Before he knew it the great lake had sprouted into his view and his five miles had come to a quick close. After his run he took a short ten minutes to catch his breath and do a little more stretching. Looking at his watch he noticed that he still had quite some time before he needed to get back to the common room and take a shower; that meant he still had a lot of time to start doing some practice drills and routines. He would start off with one of his favorites.

Viktor Krum, one of the world's most famous seekers, had come up with this practice drill back in his early days at Durmstrang and had said in many interviews that he did the drill everyday of his life up until he retired. The drill was to throw a non-active snitch straight up into the air as high as you could. As soon as the snitch left your hand you then had to close your eyes, drop to the ground and do five pushups. As soon as you finished the last push up you were back up on your feet, looking for the snitch in the sky.

Viktor would apparently do the drill ten times with one snitch to warm up and would then do the drill twenty more times with two snitches. Elliot had been doing the drill for years now and could handle one snitch fairly easily; his left hand was still a little weaker than his right though, so he still sometimes struggled with the two snitch method. The drill worked magic on your hand eye coordination. Catching snitches practically blind on their own was already hard enough, catching a snitch when your chest is so sore it's on fire is even harder.

He took one of the snitches out of his pocket and threw it high into the air and started the drill. He seemed to be in good form that morning, catching every single snitch without problems. He was doing well even with the two snitches, only dropping the left hand snitch twice in seven attempts so far.

"I take it you are a Krum fan?" a voice, full of heavy breaths asked from somewhere behind him.

Elliot, who had been just about to throw the two snitches into the air, turned to see Skyla Drake, the Hufflepuff Quidditch Captain and Head of House, standing near him, both of her hands resting on her waist. Skyla was wearing muggle running leggings and shoes and had a grey tee-shirt with a large Hufflepuff crest on it. Her hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, tied together with a gold headband, and Elliot could tell from her breathing that Skyla seemed to have finished a long run herself.

"Of course I am, what quidditch fan isn't? Why did you think that though?" he asked her, a little taken aback from the sudden appearance of the girl.

Elliot was about as far from shy as one could get. He had never had a problem approaching people or talking to new customers in the Leaky Cauldron. When it came to beautiful women who just happened to also be amazing at quidditch however, Elliot was not so good at maintaining his composure. He had nearly fainted when he had met Ginny Weasley-Potter for the first time.

Skyla, while nowhere near as famous as Ginny Weasley-Potter, still made him lose his composure. Not only was she a beautiful older girl, which was intimidating enough as it is, but she practically radiated out a strong aura that was impossible to notice.

"I think I would be able to know a Krum training exercise when I see one. I throw that one into my workouts every now and then too, It's a good one," Skyla replied. She took out her wand and waved it, summoning a towel from out of nowhere and wiping her brow. "It was Elliot Bridges right?" she asked him.

"Yeah it is," he mumbled his response. Even though they had met back during opening night he was surprised someone like her would remember someone like him.

"Headmaster McGonagall told me you were a big quidditch fan, seems she wasn't lying. Water?" Skyla asked, holding a bottle out to him. Elliot took the bottle and took a large swig from it, loving the feel of the cold water splashing against his throat on the way down.

"Thanks. And the Headmaster told you about me?" he asked, surprised at this bit of news.

"Yes she did; she said I should keep a close eye out for you."

"She said that you should keep an eye out for me? Is that a bad thing?" he asked, not sure why the Headmaster asked Skyla to keep a close eye on him. He wondered if it was because he had snuck out to the trophy room back on the first night. Skyla smiled and laughed a little at his question.

"It's a good thing, trust me. Not many people know this but the Headmaster is about as big a quidditch fan as you will ever find, she is always trying to meddle with the team captains about potential players and what not. So I take it from the early morning workout that you will be trying out for the team this year then?" Skyla asked him.

"You bet I am!" he proclaimed, puffing out his chest a little.

"What position are you looking to tryout for?" Skyla asked.

"Seeker, I've been training and practicing to be the world's greatest seeker ever since I could ride a broom!" he answered, trying to sound confident in front of her.

"Seeker huh? I guess I should have guessed that," Skyla smirked.

"Why do you say that?"

"Cause its in your blood. It would be hard to imagine the son of someone like Beau Bridges in any other position. My condolences by the way. I loved watching your father play, and I was greatly saddened when I heard the news,"

"Thank you," Elliot replied quietly.

"Well I'll be blunt with you Elliot. Making seeker for Hufflepuff will be tough, real tough. I never like to be conceited but you would have to be better than your father was already to take the spot away from me. I expect our usual backup to be even better this year too, so beating him will not be a simple task either. Being a first year lowers your odds too; we normally like to accept people with more experience."

"I have tons of experience already! You will see I promise!"

"I don't doubt that at all, and I can tell you want it badly too from the fact that you're out here this early in the morning. Hufflepuff needs dedicated, passionate, hard-workers like you on the team so I don't mean to get you discouraged with all of this."

"I'm not. If anything I'm more motivated now!" he replied honestly.

"Well good. I'll leave it up to you where you tryout but as the captain of the team I would like for you to tryout for chaser as well. Chaser was our weakest position last year and we are looking to upgrade it this year. Even if you don't make seeker, if you really are good enough to make the team, playing as chaser for a year would give you a lot more in-game experience. Just think about it."

"I will, thank you for telling me all of this by the way," he replied.

"Of course. I'm sick of losing the cup each year. I'd like to win it in my final year so I'm doing everything I can this year to make sure that happens."

"Well with me on the team winning is a guarantee!" he exclaimed, clenching his fist.

"I hope you are right, truly. I'll leave you to finishing your workout now. Tryouts are early saturday morning by the way, I just posted a notice on the common room bulletin so be sure to check it out. See ya later," Skyla said, giving him a wave as she turned and started running again.

"Thanks! See you Saturday!" he called after her, with a smile.

 _Saturday morning huh?_ He smiled at the thought of tryouts. It all felt a little more real now that he had an official time and date. The rest of Skyla's words echoed around in his head. She, the captain of Hufflepuff's team, also told him that making the team as a seeker would be nearly impossible.

He hated being told something was impossible. With hard work and effort nothing was impossible. As the captain he didn't doubt that Skyla was good and that making seeker would be tough. Still, he still knew he could do it. They would see how good he was first hand on Saturday.

Still, as confident as he was about being able to beat the second string seeker he was not confident that he could beat Skyla for the starting position; she was the captain of the team after all. Maybe she was right about trying out for chaser too. He had never played chaser before or even practiced playing it. It couldn't hurt to at least tryout for the position though could it?

His mind was racing, thinking about everything Skyla had told him. Whatever position he tried out for he would have to make sure that he was ready for it, and to get ready he would just need to put it all in the back of his mind for now. There were still two days before tryouts which meant he only had two days of preparation left. With that in mind he threw the two snitches back into the air and got back to work.

By the time the sun crept over the horizon and his watch alarm beeped Elliot was utterly exhausted. Skyla's words had echoed through his head throughout his entire morning workout and had motivated him to go harder than he ever had before. Elliot had done some tough workouts in his time, but this morning's had been by far the hardest workout of his life.

With a sore limp Elliot made his way back into the castle and into the Hufflepuff common room. Sure enough, just like Skyla had said, a bright yellow sheet of parchment had been stuck onto the notice board and already a few students were gathered around it. Elliot made his way over to the board and thankfully most of the students moved aside, probably to avoid being touched by the sweaty, smelly first year approaching them.

 _Hufflepuff Quidditch Tryouts!_

 _On this Saturday, at 8:00am, Hufflepuff will be holding it's annual quidditch team tryouts. The tryouts will run from 8:00am through 12:00pm. All students and years of the house are welcome to come tryout or observe. Any students wishing to tryout should report to the quidditch pitch by 7:30am to register and warm up on their own. Only ten spare brooms will be available at the tryouts and will be leant on a first come first serve basis. The official team roster will be decided that night and will be posted in the common room the following morning. Good luck and see you there! Go Hufflepuff!_

Elliot read through the message again to make sure that he got the times memorized; he was not about to miss out on making the team because he was late to tryouts. After reading through the message another few times he made his way back to the first year's dorm and quickly took a shower before donning his school robes for the day.

Potions and transfiguration class progressed at a snail's pace and by the end of his lessons he was certain that he was not going to survive the day. Thankfully though professor Greengrass dismissed finally dismissed them from potions and it was finally time.

He was one of the few first years that seemed to have brought a broom with them to Hogwarts. As they made their way out onto the grounds he could only see that three other Hufflepuffs had brought theirs along with only four Ravenclaws. Just because other first years didn't bring their brooms didn't mean they wouldn't be good flyers though.

The two houses crossed the grounds to the large open field next to the quidditch pitch where the goddess, Katie Bell, stood arms crossed waiting for them. They all filled in in front of her nervously and Elliot could hear a few whispers about the teacher being whispered among the students around him. His foot tapped on the ground nervously as he waited anxiously for the class to start.

He had been looking forward to these flying lessons since the opening meal at Hogwarts. Not only would he be getting lessons from _the_ Katie Bell, but if the rumors were to be believed, if he showed mastery of flying in this lesson he would have permission to fly on the grounds, which he was desperately looking forward too.

"Welcome first years. My name is Professor Bell and I will be your flying instructor this year at Hogwarts." Professor Bell started pacing up and down the line as she spoke. "Many of you I'm sure have flown a broom before, however, I am more than aware that there is a large number of you who never have.

"In today's lesson we will cover the very basics of flying and broom handling. The lesson will be slow and repetitive for some of you but today's lesson is for me to gauge what levels each of you are at. For those who need more practice I will be assigning you more flying lessons in the future until you get the hang of it. For those who come to master the art of flying quicker I will potentially extend out an invitation for extra, more advanced, lessons in the future.

"Now, for those of you who have not brought your own brooms come take one of the schools;. I'll warn you all once, if you so much as as make a scratch on one of these brooms you will be on polishing duty for the rest of the year!" In a quiet hurry those students who had not brought their own brooms from home rushed to the large line of brooms behind the professor and took their pick.

The school brooms were ancient to say the least. The _Cleansweep Eleven_ was a broom closing in on its sixty year anniversary. It was still a pretty good broom though even with its age, and was known as a broom that a lot of family's let their kids start off flying on. The _Cleansweep Eleven_ could be fairly fast in the straights but was like flying an elephant in the corners.

His _Comet 290_ was the Comet Brooms Company's response to the _Cleansweep Eleven._ His broom, which had been a present from his parents on his third birthday, was only a little younger than the _Cleansweep Eleven_ ; having its fifty year anniversary series released this year. Categorically his broom was only classed at a level five, which was one better than the _Cleansweep Eleven,_ which was classified at a six, however, anyone with a little flying experience knew that the _Comet_ broom series are much better all around flyers than the _Cleansweep_ series were.

After all of the students had their brooms in their hand and had reformed a line Professor Bell cleared her throat and began pacing again.

"The first lesson every flyer needs to learn is summoning your broom. Not only is summoning your broom an easy way to pick your broom up, more importantly it may save your life one day. Their will be times when you are flying when you take a turn too tight or do a maneuver you don't have much experience in. Learning to summon your broom in flight is a crucial way to keep from losing control or grip of it in the air.

"Have any of you had the privilege to meet the ghost Fellenor in the castle?" Professor Bell asked the class and a few Ravenclaw students raised their hand. "Back in 1786 Fellenor fell six hundred feet from his broom during a house quidditch match. He could have saved his own life if he had known how to summon his broom better. So I stress, if you don't want to end up like Fellenor take this lesson seriously," a few nervous whispers started up among the students as a result of the story. "Now, drop your brooms and stand beside them."

Everyone followed her instructions and placed their brooms on the ground and took their positions next to them.

"Stand at the midway point - good. Now, place your hand around waist level over the broom and command it 'up'. Go," Professor Bell ordered. A resounding echo of 'up' rang across the ground as all the students began trying to summon their broom.

"Up," Elliot commanded and in an instant is broom was in his hands. He smiled as he caught it and looked around to see if the professor had seen it. Unfortunately, the professor's attention was on a poor Ravenclaw boy who had somehow summoned his broom too hard and had knocked himself flat on his bum with the handle. With a frown Elliot turned to look at the other students.

Most were struggling to even get a twitch out of their broom. So far only One Ravenclaw had managed to get their broom up first try and Dakota was the only other Hufflepuff besides him to have any success.

Summoning your broom was tougher than it sounded. It had been the first lesson Elliot had ever had with his father. He had only been three, but even then his father had been relentless during the session. Most of the memories from back then had left him but he could remember a few flashes of spending hours and hours in the basement of the Cauldron practicing summoning his _Comet 290_.

Elliot dropped his broom back to the ground while he waited for the rest of the students and practiced summoning it with his left hand a few times. By the time the last student managed to collect their broom from the ground Elliot already had a small callus from summoning his broom one too many times forming on his palm.

"Good work everyone. Next we are going to practice hovering. Those of you who are one-hundred percent confident that you know how to broom hover already raise your hand," Elliot, Dakota, and three Ravenclaws were the only ones to raise their hands. "Okay then, I'm going to ask for your help for this part then.

"I want you five to walk the line and help keep brooms level, I don't want anyone flying off and landing on the roof - again. Split up among your housemates and help them out. Now, for the rest of you place one foot over the broom and straddle it, but make sure to keep both feet firmly planted on the ground! When one of us makes it to you we will help you kick off and hover until you get used to it."

Elliot made his way to the end of the Hufflepuff section of students and stood in front of the first of his housemates. He placed his hand over the tip of her broom and held it tightly as she softly kicked off the ground. The girl had apparently never flown before and even with Elliot standing there holding her broom steady she was still was struggling to keep herself upright. For a few minutes she rocked back and forth on her broom but after a little while she was able to stay upright briefly as she hovered three feet or so off the ground.

One after another Elliot made his way down the Hufflepuff line. Many of the students grasped onto hovering fairly quickly and most just struggled with keeping their brooms level. It was kind of insightful to watch others learn to fly and it made you appreciate how hard it really was.

A lot of people thought professional quidditch players had dust for brains but the truth is that mastering flying takes a lot of work and a certain type of brains. Being able to multitask up in the air, maintaining balance, observations, awareness, angles, hand eye coordination, and speed were all things that had to be practiced methodically and knowing that every pro player at one point started off just like these students were now was humbling.

After close to an hour the five students and Professor Bell had made their way down the entire line and all but three students had managed to hover successfully. Professor Bell made her way down the line again and spoke for a few seconds with each student before making her way back to the center.

"Alright, that will conclude our lessons for today. For those of you who I spoke to you will be coming to the next lesson to work on things some more. Your Head of House will let you know later on when the lesson will be held. Class dismissed - you five stay here," Professor Bell announced and the line of students returned their brooms and made their ways back towards the castle. Elliot made his way over next to Dakota and waited anxiously to find out why they were being held after. He was hopeful it meant something good.

"Thank you for your help today, my usual assistant is subbing in as a flying instructor at Durmstrang this year so I'm a little short-handed. So I want you all to show me what you've got now. I'm sure some of you might have heard that first years have to earn permission to fly freely on the grounds, if I like what I see you can earn that today." A smile lit up Elliot's face at the professor's words; he had been waiting to hear that.

"I'm also Hogwart's quidditch coach and referee. With my role as quidditch coach I like to help out with private flying lessons and extra practices with the better flyers here at Hogwarts. I mostly work with the upper years but like I said, if I like what I see I might invite you to one of them. Now - ," Professor Bell turned to the Hogwarts quidditch pitch.

"You haven't earned the right to fly out on the quidditch pitch yet but I want you each to take three laps around the stadium. Fly as fast or slow as you want, at whatever height you want, and take the corners however you want. This isn't house-team tryouts so don't go too crazy; I have a good eye for good flying so just fly like you normally would and don't try to impress me too much- you there, you start us off," Professor Bell ordered as she pointed to a Ravenclaw girl.

The girl, who Elliot noticed had _Nimbus 2001_ , which was just about as old and good as his broom was, stepped over her broom and kicked off into the air. She was pretty good and Elliot could tell right off that the girl must have flown a lot before coming to Hogwarts. She throttled down hard on the straight aways and took wide fast corners, putting the speed of the _Nimbus 2001_ on full display.

After her the next two Ravenclaws kicked off one after another. Both of them were equally impressive, though one of them was clearly better at handling his broom around the bends, adding a few difficult twists into each one.

Next up was Dakota. If the three Ravenclaws were considered good than Dakota was great.

He had failed the entire lesson to notice that Dakota had a _Firebolt_ , which could run circles around his _Comet 290_ and the others' brooms _._ And running circles is exactly what Dakota did over the previous three flyers.

Only flying a little around ten feet off the ground, Dakota took the straights like a demon and the corners even harder. It was painfully clear that Dakota knew how to handle a broom. In each of her corners, Dakota utilized the kick out technique, where she would kick her broom with her left foot to the inside of her body, allowing herself to take the turns much tighter and quicker than when you just leaned in a direction.

Dakota's flight path was smart too. Where the previous three flyers flew high in the air Dakota chose to stay lower to the ground, which not only made her path around the stadium a much shorter one, but it also decreased any air resistance. In what felt like a blink of an eye Dakota managed to complete all of her laps. Her ponytail was flapping behind her furiously as she turned the last corner and like a natural Dakota stopped and landed on the ground in one fluid motion, catching her broom in one hand as she lept off.

"Merlin's beard Dakota! I didn't know you could fly like that! You were incredible!" he shouted as she closed the short gap between her and the rest of the group.

"Well - I mean, it was nothing really," Dakota insisted.

"Are you kidding me? It was definitely not nothing! I didn't know you had a _Firebolt_ either!" he replied. Dakota opened her mouth to say something but closed it shortly after.

"That was some good flying Miss Taylor. I can see that your sister wasn't the only one to inherit the good genes. Make sure on your kick outs that you're also turning your waist and wrists inwards too. It's pointless to do that move if you are holding your broom that tight and fighting against the motion," Professor Bell interjected.

"Sorry! I will next time!" Dakota stammered.

"I will help you practice it some other time. Alright, Mr. Bridges, you are up," Professor Bell said and with another large smile Elliot mounted his broom and kicked off the ground hard.

 _God I missed this._ Was the only thought in his head as he left the ground and headed towards the quidditch stadium. It had been so long since he had been up in the air he had nearly forgot how good it felt.

The familiar feeling of the wind came over him as it swept through his hair and beat against his face as he flew. His school robes flapped behind him like a shopping bag caught up in the wind. This was the greatest feeling on earth and no amount of magic could ever beat it. His cheeks were already hurting from smiling so much and he hadn't even really began.

As he approached the outside of the stadium he leaned forward and tightened his grip on his broom. The wind began to slap his face harder and it's sound roared passed his ears as he picked up his pace. He pushed forward harder and further downwards as he bolted down the first straight.

His _Comet 290_ wouldn't be able to keep up with the speed of Kota's _Firebolt_ on the straights, so he would have to beat her pace on the corners to make up for any loss of time; to do that he would have to dig into his deep bag of tricks. As he neared the first corner instead of slowing down he pushed the front of his broom hard downwards, causing his pace to quicken even further.

Just as the corner shot into sight he pushed down even harder and slightly to the left, putting one of his favorite moves, the forward diagonal roll, into use. His body and broom rolled forward and in the blink of an eye the grass of the grounds came into view before his view evened out and returned to a normal. His smile grew a little wider as he pushed forward again down the next straight.

Three laps around the quidditch stadium came and went a little too fast for his liking and it took all of his self control to keep himself from doing a few extras. Even if it had been short it had been so much fun, even if he was a little out of practice and rusty. After a bit of hesitation he turned from the quidditch pitch and headed back to the professor and other waiting students, hopeful that they had been impressed.

"Mr. Bridges -" Professor Bell called his name out loudly as he approached the group. He had been expecting an impressed smile from the professor but instead she was wearing a look of distaste on her face.

 _Gulp._

"Uhhh yes p-professor?" he asked nervously. Having _the_ Katie Bell look at him like this was like something out of one of his nightmares.

"Please tell me that move on your final two corners was not supposed to be a wrong-rodeo turn?"

"Uhhh. . ." Was all Elliot managed to mumble out as he scratched the back of his head. That was exactly what he had tried to do the last two corners.

"I'll take that mumble as a yes. I watched your father do that move more times than I can count and whatever you just did was not a wrong-rodeo turn. I'm sure he told you the first thing every flyer needs to know before they do a wrong-rodeo turn." Professor Bell gave him a sterner look than even the Headmaster could give. "Well?"

"He did. . ." Elliot mumbled out nervously, fearing the flying instructor's wrath.

"And what is the one thing you need to know when doing a wrong-rodeo turn?"

"Hips in, back straight, shoulders down. . ." Elliot whispered out in embarrassment. His father had beaten that lesson into Elliot's skull a number of times.

"So you do know the proper form then. Why then was it that your back was bent over and your hips were facing out?"

"Uhh. . . well. . ." he tried to think of something quickly but no excuses came. Honestly he had just been so caught up in the moment he hadn't thought about the form too much.

"Well next time you perform that move I expect you to show me the proper form. I expect you to practice it during your flying in the coming days until you get it down!" Professor Bell replied.

"Yes mam - wait - I have permission to fly on my own?" he asked her, his voice full of excitement. Professor Bell nodded and smiled.

"I'm giving all five of you permission to fly on your own within school hours. No flying on the pitch though, that right is reserved for house team members only. All of you showed promise today and I expect you all to keep up your practices and try out for your house teams. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff are especially both in need for some good young talent.

"I'm going to want to work with each of you all a little more on somethings in the future so look out for a letter. Other than that thank you for your help and happy flying. You're dismissed."

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